Racial variation in breast cancer treatment among Department of Defense beneficiaries

BACKGROUND:

Although the overall age‐adjusted incidence rates for female breast cancer are higher among whites than blacks, mortality rates are higher among blacks. Many attribute this discrepancy to disparities in health care access and to blacks presenting with later stage disease. Within the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Health System, all beneficiaries have equal access to health care. The aim of this study was to determine whether female breast cancer treatment varied between white and black patients in the DoD system.

METHODS:

The study data were drawn from the DoD cancer registry and medical claims databases. Study subjects included 2308 white and 391 black women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1998 and 2000. Multivariate logistic regression analyses that controlled for demographic factors, tumor characteristics, and comorbidities were used to assess racial differences in the receipt of surgery, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy.

RESULTS:

There was no significant difference in surgery type, particularly when mastectomy was compared with breast‐conserving surgery plus radiation (blacks vs whites: odds ratio [OR], 1.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.8‐1.5). Among those with local stage tumors, blacks were as likely as whites to receive chemotherapy (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 0.9‐1.7) and hormonal therapy (OR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.6‐1.4). Among those with regional stage tumors, blacks were significantly less likely than whites to receive chemotherapy (OR, 0.4; 95% CI, 0.2‐0.7) and hormonal therapy (OR, 0.5; 95% CI, 0.3‐0.8).

CONCLUSIONS:

Even within an equal access health care system, stage‐related racial variations in breast cancer treatment are evident. Studies that identify driving factors behind these within‐stage racial disparities are warranted. Cancer 2012;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.     

Racial disparities in the development of breast cancer metastases among older women

BACKGROUND:

Distant metastases are the most common and lethal type of breast cancer relapse. The authors examined whether older African American breast cancer survivors were more likely to develop metastases compared with older white women. They also examined the extent to which 6 pathways explained racial disparities in the development of metastases.

METHODS:

The authors used 1992‐1999 Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data with 1991‐1999 Medicare data. They used Medicare's International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes to identify metastases of respiratory and digestive systems, brain, bone, or other unspecified sites. The 6 pathways consisted of patient characteristics, tumor characteristics, type of treatment received, access to medical care, surveillance mammography use, and area‐level characteristics (poverty rate and percentage African American) and were obtained from the SEER or Medicare data.

RESULTS:

Of the 35,937 women, 10.5% developed metastases. In univariate analysis, African American women were 1.61 times (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54‐1.83) more likely to develop metastasis than white women. In multivariate analysis, tumor grade, stage at diagnosis, and census‐tract percentage African American explained why African American women were more likely to develop metastases than white women (hazard ratio, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.68‐1.03).

CONCLUSIONS:

Interventions to reduce late‐stage breast cancer among African Americans also may reduce racial disparities in subsequent increased risk of developing metastasis. African Americans diagnosed with high‐grade breast cancer could be targeted to reduce their risk of metastasis. Future studies should identify specific reasons why the racial distribution in census tracts was associated with racial disparities in the risk of breast cancer metastases. Cancer 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.     

The impact of health insurance status on stage at diagnosis of oropharyngeal cancer

BACKGROUND: Although patients who have early-stage oropharyngeal cancer can be treated with little impairment of function, the treatment of advanced disease can result in decreased quality of life and mortality. Patients without insurance and with other barriers to access to care may delay seeking medical attention for early symptoms, resulting in more advanced disease at presentation. In this study, the authors examined whether patients who had no insurance or who were covered by Medicaid insurance were more likely to present with advanced oropharyngeal cancer. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study from the National Cancer Database from 1996 to 2003, patients with known insurance status who were diagnosed with invasive oropharyngeal cancer at Commission on Cancer facilities (n = 40,487) were included. Adjusted and unadjusted logistic regression models were used to analyze the likelihood of presenting with more advanced stage disease. RESULTS: After controlling for other sociodemographic characteristics, patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer at diagnosis were more likely to be uninsured (odds ratio [OR], 1.37; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.21-1.25) or covered by Medicaid (OR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.19-1.46) compared with patients who had private insurance. Similarly, patients were most likely to present with the largest tumors (T4 disease) if they were uninsured (OR, 2.82; 95% CI, 2.46-3.23) or covered by Medicaid (OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 2.63-3.31). They also were more likely to present with the greatest degree of lymph node involvement (N3) if they were uninsured (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.76-2.40) or covered by Medicaid (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.45-1.90). CONCLUSIONS: Individuals who lacked insurance or had Medicaid coverage were at the greatest risk for presenting with advanced oropharyngeal cancer. In the current study, the results for the Medicaid group may have been influenced by the postdiagnostic enrollment of uninsured patients. Insurance coverage appeared to be a highly modifiable predictor of cancer stage. The findings indicated that it is important to consider the impact of insurance coverage on disease stage at diagnosis and associated morbidity, mortality, and quality of life.     

Racial differences in treatment and outcomes among patients with early stage bladder cancer

BACKGROUND:

Black patients are at greater of risk of death from bladder cancer than white patients. Potential explanations for this disparity include a more aggressive phenotype and delays in diagnosis resulting in higher stage disease. Alternatively, black patients may receive a lower quality of care, which may explain this difference.

METHODS:

Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)‐Medicare data for the years from 1992 through 2002, the authors identified patients with early stage bladder cancer. Multivariate models were fitted to measure relations between race and mortality, adjusting for differences in patients and treatment intensity. Next, shared‐frailty proportional hazards models were fitted to evaluate whether the disparity was explained by differences in the quality of care provided.

RESULTS:

Compared with white patients (n = 14,271), black patients (n = 342) were more likely to undergo restaging resection (12% vs 6.5%; P < .01) and urine cytologic evaluation (36.8% vs 29.7%; P < .01), yet they received fewer endoscopic evaluations (4 vs 5; P < .01). The use of aggressive therapies (cystectomy, systemic chemotherapy, radiation) was found to be similar among black patients and white patients (12% vs 10.2%, respectively; P = .31). Although black patients had a greater risk of death compared with white patients (hazards ratio [HR], 1.23; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.07‐1.42), this risk was attenuated only modestly after adjusting for differences in treatment intensity and provider effects (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.06‐1.42).

CONCLUSIONS:

Although differences in initial treatment were evident, they did not appear to be systematic and had unclear clinical significance. Whereas black patients are at greater risk of death, this disparity did not appear to be caused by differences in the intensity or quality of care provided. Cancer 2010. © 2010 American Cancer Society.     

Limitations in health care access and utilization among long‐term survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer

BACKGROUND:

Health care outcomes for long‐term survivors of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer were compared with young adults without a cancer history, using the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data.

METHODS:

Eligible participants were 20 to 39 years of age. There were N = 979 who self‐reported a cancer diagnosis between the ages of 15 to 34 years and were at least 5 years from diagnosis (excluding nonmelanoma skin cancer). The remaining 67,216 participants with no cancer history were used as controls. Using multivariable regressions, relative risks and 95% confidence intervals were generated to examine the relationship of survivor status on indicators of poor health care (uninsured, no personal health care provider, no routine care, and avoiding seeing a doctor due to cost). Adjusted proportions were calculated by demographic groups. Results are weighted by Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey design.

RESULTS:

Although the proportion uninsured did not differ (21% of survivors vs 23% of controls), AYA survivors reported forgoing care due to cost at higher levels than controls (relative risk = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.44‐1.94). Cost barriers were particularly high for survivors aged 20 to 29 years (44% vs 16% of controls; P < .001) and female survivors (35% vs 18% of controls; P < .001). Survivors reporting poorer health had more cost barriers. Moreover, uninsured survivors tended to report lower use of health care than did controls.

CONCLUSIONS:

AYA cancer survivors may forgo health care due to cost barriers, potentially inhibiting the early detection of late effects. Expanding health insurance coverage for young cancer survivors may be insufficient without adequate strategies to reduce their medical cost burdens. Cancer 2012. © 2012 American Cancer Society.     

Effect of Massachusetts health insurance reform on mammography use and breast cancer stage at diagnosis

BACKGROUND:

Massachusetts law requires all residents to maintain a minimum level of health insurance, and rates of uninsurance in that state decreased from 6.4% in 2006 to 1.9% in 2010. The authors of this report assessed whether health insurance expansion was associated with use of mammography and earlier stage at breast cancer diagnosis.

METHODS:

By using a prereform/postreform design with a concurrent control (California), mammography rates in the last year were assessed using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey and the diagnosis of stage I (vs II/III/IV) breast cancers based on cancer registry data among women ages 41 to 64. Propensity score analyses were used to compare California women who were most similar to women in Massachusetts with Massachusetts women.

RESULTS:

Among propensity‐weighted cohorts, adjusted mammography rates in Massachusetts were 69.2% in 2006, 69.5% in 2008, and 69.0% in 2010. In California, the rates were 59% in 2006, 60.3% in 2008, and 56.2% in 2010 (P = .89 for interaction by state for 2010 vs 2006). Among propensity‐weighted cohorts, adjusted rates of diagnosis with stage I cancers were 52.2% in 2006, 53.5% in 2007, and 52.4% in 2008 in Massachusetts versus 46.4% in 2006, 46.3% in 2007, and 45.7% in 2008 in California (P = .58 for interaction by state for 2010 vs 2006).

CONCLUSIONS:

Health insurance reform in Massachusetts was not associated with increased rates of mammography or earlier stage at diagnosis compared with California, possibly because of insurance and mammography rates that already were high. Additional research is needed to assess the impact of insurance expansions in other populations, especially those with higher uninsurance rates. Cancer 2013. © 2012 American Cancer Society.     

Insurance status and stage of cancer at diagnosis among women with breast cancer

BACKGROUND: Individuals without medical insurance or with limited insurance are less likely than those with broader insurance coverage to receive preventive services and to seek timely medical care. The authors examined the associations of insurance status with stage at diagnosis among women with breast cancer. METHODS: This study included women age >/=40 years who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 1998 to 2003 and who were reported to the National Cancer Data Base. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations of insurance status with more advanced-stage breast cancer at diagnosis while controlling for other patient characteristics. RESULTS: Among the 533,715 women with breast cancer who were included in the current analysis, the proportions with advanced-stage (III/IV) cancer at diagnosis ranged from 8% among privately insured patients to 18% among uninsured patients and 19% among Medicaid patients; differences in the proportions of women with advanced-stage cancer were statistically significant (P < .0001). Regression analyses indicated that, compared with privately insured patients, uninsured patients and Medicaid patients had a greater likelihood of diagnosis at stage II (odds ratio [OR], approximately approximately 1.5) or at stages III/IV (OR, 2.4) versus stage I (P < .001). Black and Hispanic patients also were significantly more likely than white patients to be diagnosed at a more advanced stage (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The results from this study provided strong evidence that patients without health insurance or with Medicaid coverage, as well as black and Hispanic patients, were more likely to present with advanced-stage breast cancer. These results are consistent with other reports that have documented less use of preventive services, including mammography, among uninsured women and delays in diagnosis and treatment for black and Hispanic women.     

多肿瘤标志物蛋白芯片对泌尿系肿瘤和男性生殖系肿瘤诊断的临床价值

目的：探讨多肿瘤标志物蛋白质芯片在泌尿系肿瘤和男性生殖系肿瘤诊断中的临床应用价值,并建立12项肿瘤标志物联合诊断泌尿系和男性生殖系肿瘤的函数。方法：采用C-12多肿瘤标志物蛋白质芯片检测57例泌尿系肿瘤患者、38例男性生殖系肿瘤患者、11例泌尿系良性病变患者、25例男性生殖系良性病变患者,以及1203例正常体检者。所有患者均经病理学、影像学或临床确诊。结果：用C-12芯片检测泌尿系肿瘤的灵敏度是49.12%,特异度是81.81%,阳性预测值是93.33%,阴性预测值是23.68%;男性生殖系肿瘤的灵敏度是62.16%,特异度是48.00%,阳性预测值是64.86%,阴性预测值是46.15%。除前列腺癌外,C-12芯片联合检测的阳性率在泌尿系肿瘤和其他男性生殖系肿瘤中显著高于单项肿瘤标志物的检测（P〈0.05）。建立的诊断判别函数对肾癌、膀胱输尿管肿瘤、前列腺癌、睾丸癌的诊断准确率分别为81.3%、94.5%、94.0%、91.0%,显著高于单项标志物检测（P〈0.01）。结论：除前列腺癌外,用多肿瘤标志物蛋白质芯片检测泌尿系和男性生殖系肿瘤可提高诊断的灵敏度,优于单项肿瘤标志物;诊断判别函数可明显提高泌尿系及男性生殖系肿瘤诊断的准确率,具有一定的临床参考价值。